Former New York Yankees first baseman and Texas congressional candidate Mark Teixeira has labeled Major League Baseball's response to the San Francisco Giants' Pride Night controversy a "total disaster" and an effort to "silence" Christian athletes.

Teixeira, speaking on the "Fox News Rundown" podcast, argued that sports should remain separate from political stances. "We live in a Christian culture where people are trying to silence us," he stated. "And we're not [going to] let the San Francisco Giants or any outside group, silence our faith."

The dispute arose when several Giants players chose to write Bible verses on their caps or forgo wearing them during the team's annual Pride Night. According to The Athletic, an MLB spokesperson said the writing on the cap "violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations."

Teixeira contended that compelling players to wear items they do not support creates a public relations issue for the league. "Yep, total disaster, PR disaster for the league, PR disaster for The Giants. You know, these players were just expressing their Christianity. They were forced to do something that they didn't want to do," he said.

He recalled his 14-year playing career, stating that such conversations or political stances were not part of the game. "It's a hard job playing baseball and bringing something like a pride night and forcing players to wear a cap. Whether that was the rule or not, that's what it looked like."

One of the players involved, pitcher Landen Roupp, explained that his message was intended to represent "God's covenant" rather than to express hatred. The Giants organization issued an apology to the LGBTQ+ community for any "pain and anger" caused by the incident.

However, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred informed Republican Senator Josh Hawley that the players involved would not face fines or disciplinary action. In a letter to Hawley, Manfred stated that the players received a "routine oral warning" for a uniform policy violation. He clarified that this warning was issued before the league became aware that the players had not been properly informed that wearing the Pride caps was optional. "The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be," Manfred wrote.